The Way of a Ship
A Square-Rigger Voyage in the Last Days of Sail
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4.3 • 18 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
In this magnificent seagoing yarn, Derek Lundy recreates the voyage of the Beara Head, a merchant ship that sailed around Cape Horn in the 1880s. Based partly on the experiences of Lundy’s great-great uncle, The Way of a Ship examines the cultural and economic significance of the rise of steamships — and the inevitable death of the Age of Sail and its centuries-old traditions.
Lundy seamlessly weaves together historical context with a gripping narrative style to recreate a white-knuckle journey that depicts not only the dangerous day-to-day life of a sailor, but also, as sail gave way to steam, the end of an era. The Way of a Ship is more than a nautical history; like Melville and Conrad, Lundy portrays the sea voyage as a poignant metaphor for life itself.
Derek Lundy is the author of the international bestseller Godforsaken Sea: Racing the World’s Most Dangerous Waters. He lives in Salt Spring Island.
“A fantastic ride through one of the greatest moments in the history of adventure ... Lundy is a master of tension and storytelling.” — Seattle Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lundy (Godforsaken Sea), an experienced amateur sailor, offers a gale-force recreation of a late 19th-century square-rigger voyage. He begins by introducing his Irish-Canadian great-great-uncle, sailor Benjamin Lundy. Since little information about Benjamin was available, the author combines the few facts with what he learned about life on square-riggers from maritime museums to fabricate an imaginary voyage and a fictitious ship, the Beara Head. Benjamin sets off on the Beara Head in 1885 amid "the smoky mist and watery sun of a Liverpool spring day." While charting the ship's course (around Cape Horn to Valparaiso and on to San Francisco), the author shares details of ship construction, food, equipment and the routine tasks of those onboard. He depicts the romance and tranquil beauty of square-riggers, along with the intense physical challenges the exhausted, sleep-deprived seamen deal with. Under "the black, boiling clouds of the storm," they wrestle with the topsail: "The fight to control the sail becomes nightmarish toil without end." Musical sea chants pitch and roll with gusto throughout this adventure tale, along with Lundy's personal sailing experiences, plus literary references from Conrad, Melville and others. Convincing dialogue crests on rippling waves of fiction, yet readers will surface with a strong sense of seagoing history, a knowledge of the specialized skills involved in keeping square-riggers afloat and a respect not only for the fierce power of the elements but also for Lundy's considerable talent as a writer. Photos, map. should target interested readers.
